Packers pound Redskins behind Rodgers

Green Bay’s Jordy Nelson celebrates with fans after a touchdown catch during the first half of Sunday’s game against the Redskins. - Associated Press

Aaron Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers’ offense to a record-setting day.

Rodgers was 34 for 42 for a career-high 480 yards and four touchdowns, receiver James Jones had a career-best 178 yards and James Starks ran for 132 yards and a score in a 38-20 win over the Washington Redskins Sunday.

According to the Packers, it was the first time in NFL history that any team had a 450-yard passer and 125-yard rusher in the same game.

“We were able to catch the ball well, had yards after the catch and we were able to run the ball better than we have in a long time,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers’ 480 yards passing tied a franchise record set by former teammate Matt Flynn on Jan. 1, 2012, against the Lions.

Sunday was also the first time that the Packers had a 400-yard passer and 100-yard rusher in the same game. Rodgers had his big game after waking up with a stiff neck.

“I was hurting pretty bad. I wasn’t feeling great pregame,” Rodgers said. What he termed as an “adjustment” from a trainer once he got to the stadium made him feel better.

“Once the adrenaline started going, I just kind got into a rhythm,” he said.

Especially in the first half. The Packers started sluggish, allowing three sacks of Rodgers in the first 9 minutes, then responded with touchdowns on three straight drives.

The defense held Robert Griffin III in check in the first half, and Green Bay rolled to a 24-0 lead at halftime.

Green Bay (1-1) bounced back after a season-opening loss at San Francisco.

The Redskins (0-2) will need to regroup again after getting off to a slow start for a second straight week. Last week, the Redskins fell behind 26-7 at halftime before rallying in the second half in a 33-27 loss to the Eagles.

He finished 26 for 40 for 320 yards and three touchdowns, but most of that came in the second half with the Packers ahead by three scores.

Miami 24, Indianapolis 20: Ryan Tannehill threw for 319 yards and one touchdown, and the Dolphins defense held off yet another Colts comeback bid.

Charles Clay gave Miami the lead for good with a 1-yard TD run late in the third quarter. The Dolphins are 2-0 for only the second time since 2004.

Kansas City 17, Dallas 16: Alex Smith threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns, and the Kansas City Chiefs defense held when it needed to in the fourth quarter for a 17-16 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Jamaal Charles ran for 55 yards and caught a touchdown pass for the Chiefs, who made new coach Andy Reid a winner in his home debut.

The touchdown capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive in which the first-round draft pick completed 6 of 8 attempts for 51 yards. Manuel also got help on third-and-6 from Carolina’s 29, when Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly was penalized for pass interference with 14 seconds left.

Atlanta 31, St. Louis 24: Julio Jones hauled in 11 passes for 182 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown, and Atlanta held on for its first win of the season.

Matt Ryan threw for 374 yards and two scores despite taking quite a beating behind the Falcons’ shaky offense line. Jason Snelling clinched it for the Falcons (1-1) with an 11-yard touchdown run with 6:18 remaining – Atlanta’s longest play of the day on the ground.

Arizona 25, Detroit 21: A pass interference penalty against Bill Bentley set up Rashard Mendenhall’s 1-yard touchdown run with 1:59 to play and Arizona beat the Detroit Lions 25-21 in Bruce Arians’ home debut as Cardinals coach.

Oakland 19, Jacksonville 9: Darren McFadden ran for 129 yards and Oakland’s defense held Jacksonville out of the end zone until the closing minutes, as the Raiders won their home opener 19-9 over the Jaguars.